The Guide Fall 2015
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Fall 2015 | Volume 81, Number 2 The Seeing Eye® GUIDEA MAGAZINE FOR FRIENDS OF THE SEEING EYE INSIDE: Raising the Bar The Seeing Eye® GUIDEA MAGAZINE FOR FRIENDS OF THE SEEING EYE A Seeing Eye Perspective So, why do we call them Seeing Eye® dogs? blind or visually impaired were expected to be led around by The article by Dorothy Harrison Eustis in The Saturday Evening relatives or hired assistants – or Post about training dogs to guide people who are blind or stay at home or in institutions. visually impaired was titled “The Seeing Eye.” The title came Independent travel was thought to from Proverbs 20:12, “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, be an impossibility. the Lord hath made even both of them.” So it was not a surprise that the first dog trained at Dorothy’s dog training Morris and Buddy successfully school to guide a blind person should be called a “Seeing made it across and soon the idea Eye dog.” that a person who is blind or visually impaired could travel independently changed the way the public thought about The term was unfamiliar, but then again, so was the concept. people who were blind, and people with disabilities in general. When Morris Frank and Buddy arrived in New York City in For years afterward, The Seeing Eye was the only school 1928, it was such a novelty that reporters came to see them – training such dogs for the general public, and thus all dogs and were so skeptical of the idea of a dog leading a blind trained to guide people who are blind were called Seeing Eye man that they challenged Morris to cross the infamous West dogs. But then other schools, in the United States and across Street, a bustling waterfront thoroughfare nicknamed “Death the world, began training their own dogs, and a generic term Street” because of its many accidents. was needed. First the industry used “dog guide,” now “guide dog” is the preferred term. It’s important to remember that at this time, we didn’t even have the long white cane for independent travel. People who were But, just as not every facial tissue is a Kleenex® tissue, and not every photocopy is a Xerox® copy, not every dog trained to guide a blind person is a Seeing Eye® dog! It is a registered CONTENTS trademark and can only be used for dogs that have been bred, raised, and trained by The Seeing Eye in Morristown, New Fall 2015 | Volume 81, Number 2 Jersey. But just as Kleenex and Xerox are such well-known brands that they are sometimes incorrectly and inappropriately used as generic terms, so too with Seeing Eye dogs. 1 Letters to The Seeing Eye We’re proud of our role as the pioneer of the guide dog 2 Graduate Profile: Charlotte Brown industry, and our unique name. We protect our trademark from misuse but always tell our graduates to proudly tell whoever 4 Family Day The Seeing Eye Celebrates Puppy Raisers asks: “This is my Seeing Eye dog! After all, our dogs aren’t just generic guide dogs, they are the real thing -- they truly are 6 Seeing Eye Cats? Seeing Eye® dogs.” 7 Remembering Sandy Nellis Sincerely, 7 A ‘Cool’ Gold Award Project James A. Kutsch, Jr., The Seeing Eye 8 News Highlights President & CEO ON THE COVER: Charlotte Brown, a 2013 graduate of The Seeing Eye, pole vaults at the 2015 Texas High School State Championships. Photo by Eric Gay / Associated Press. letters TO THE SEEING EYE Dear Seeing Eye: Dear Seeing Eye: I am sending this gift in response to the graduate capital When I received the picture of William, born February 4, campaign appeal in memory of my four fabulous Seeing Eye 2015, I smiled and then I cried as I am doing now writing to dogs and in honor of my current dog, Leona. you! He is so adorable and what a wonderful life he will have! My first dog was a German shepherd named Aussi. She loved My Dad, William Monteverdi, always remembered The Seeing me beyond measure. Aussi always knew where the seat of Eye with his donations and drives through Morristown to watch power was located, and she thought the seat of power should for the dogs. He was always reminding me what a wonderful be mine. She always took me to the office manager’s office as life a Seeing Eye dog would have. though that office belonged to me. The office manager got such a kick out of that, and he loved Aussi. I don’t think I Marion Monteverdi Roberts appreciated Aussi as much as I should have. I often wish she could come back so we could do it all over again and I could Editor’s Note: You can name a Seeing Eye puppy through a get it right. donation of $5,000 or more. For more information, go to www.SeeingEye.org/donate. Next came Bobby, a big black Lab. He was a gentle soul whom everyone loved. Despite Seeing Eye’s instructions to the contrary, I made the terrible mistake of allowing everyone to feed him. I paid for that dearly because he was very difficult to control when we went to a restaurant! My third dog, Posie, had that special magic that many people Dear Seeing Eye: speak of when they talk about their third dog. I did an internship as a chaplain one summer at Presbyterian Hospital. I am truly honored to be the recipient of the Edward A. Posie always seemed to know when someone needed special Bragaline Puppy Raiser Scholarship. Being involved with The attention and comfort. Some people called her Chaplain Posie. Seeing Eye has been one of the best experiences of my life; with each of my five puppies it has been as rewarding for me Eudora, a beautiful golden retriever, was my fourth dog. Her as I am sure it has been for their owners. This fall I am name means “good gift.” She was given the nickname Euphoria attending University of South Carolina, and I am beyond because she was so joyful all the time. I think she aspired to be excited. In my career as a nurse, I am looking forward to the a musician because for a while, she tried to help me play the opportunity to improve people’s lives. I really appreciate your piano at church. gift and I plan to buy a computer for college with it. Thank you so much for your generosity. Now I have Leona. My classmates nicknamed her Wild Child because when we were meeting different breeds of dog on that Molly Snearowski first Sunday at The Seeing Eye, Leona was bouncing off the wall. The next day, I had no idea that I had been given the Wild Child because she was as sedate as she could be in her harness. Leona is happy, healthy, and spry. She loves her work; she loves people, and people love her. She even loves our six cats, but I doubt that the feeling is mutual. She is a golden/Lab retriever cross, a strawberry blonde, just what I wanted. My congregation has accorded Leona honorary church membership. The work you do is exemplary. Nobody does it better. The Rev. Wanda Ford Seeing Eye Graduate THE SEEING EYE GUIDE 1 graduate profile Charlotte Brown SOARS TO NEW HEIGHTS The yellow Labrador-golden retriever cross lies on the grass inside the oval track, his job done for the next few hours. Earlier that day he had led his partner from the parking lot into the stadium, and then from the landing pit to the starting line, and finally to the warm-up area where he found a nice place to lie in the sun. Now his partner is on her own. He watches as she picks up a carbon fiber pole that is 12 feet, 9 inches long. She touches the lid of a chalk container with her toe to make sure she’s in the right place – the starting line. At the other end of the track, 81 feet away, a small, high-pitched beeper is tucked into the cushioned padding of the landing pit. The dog can hear it, of course, and so can his partner, but most of the other competitors don’t even know it’s there. Then she takes off running. She knows the distance because she counts how many times her left foot lands on the track. At the sixth step, she begins to lower the pole. At the seventh, she plants it. The pole has to be stuck into a box that is less than two feet wide and 8” deep. And of course, his partner can’t see it. But by running in a straight line, counting her steps, and listening for the beeps, she nails it. Then she is flying! The pole bending, her legs swinging up until it’s like she’s hanging completely upside down, her body perpendicular to the ground, the soles of her track shoes facing the sky. Then the pole snaps straight and she releases it, twisting in mid-air, throwing herself over the bar and then falling a distance twice her height into the landing pit. The crowd roars and Charlotte Brown, wearing her bronze medal, the dog yawns. with Vador. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Brown. He’s seen this so many times before. Charlotte Brown was matched with her first Seeing Eye dog, Vador, in June 2013. At the time she was a 16-year-old student at Emory Rains High School.